I Might Let my Jack Russell Have a Go.

Perry Barr Greyhound Racing
Attraction (General)
in/near Birmingham, Shropshire (Inc Birmingham),
England Heart Of Inc Birmingham

Recommendation added: 04/10/2006 15:52
By: katygriff (YSUK rating +351)

katygriff has been thanked 1 times for this contribution

"I have always been quite intrigued by racing and especially greyhound racing because I just love the dogs and I find them so elegant and absolutely stunning and even when they are racing they seem to enjoy it but then again all dogs love chasing after things. When my company decided we were going to put it forward as a night out I was up for the idea and off we went to Perry Barr Greyhound racing club and what a great night was had by all and here is why.

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Location:

The Perry Barr Greyhound racing track is situated in…yes you got it Perry Barr which is extremely close to Birmingham city centre. The full address if anybody is interested is;

Aldridge Road
Perry Barr
Birmingham
B42 2ET

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Packages:

There are plenty of packages you can get for your night and the simplest is simply just paying your admission fee which is £5.50. They do specials though which do work out better especially if you are planning to spend the whole night there.

One of the cheapest and best is a punters pack which for £6 - £7.50 (depending on the night) you can get admission, a couple of bets paid for you and also some drinks vouchers.

There is a top dog deal if you want food which is £11 – 13.50 and includes admission, two bets and a food and restaurant voucher.

The package we went for because there are a lot of us was the restaurant party package which cost us £98 per four people and we got admission, race cards and a three course meal plus half a bottle of wine each which always goes down well as you can imagine. You can book in parties of multiples of four or six as these are how the tables are set out.

If you give the stadium a ring though and tell them what you want they are pretty good and the guy I spoke to was extremely helpful when I told him how many were going and for him to give me the cheapest package.

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The Restaurant:

The restaurant is pretty good and it is spread out over a couple of floors. We were right up at the top on the third floor and everything is set out sort of like you expect a school hall at lunch time to be set out. the tables all have their matching table cloths and they are all square tables set out in seats of four and six. The restaurant is quite large so I think you can get hundreds of people in the whole restaurant for one night.

The decoration is just simple with white walls and then there are nice pictures over the walls and nothing else. Within the restaurant you can see the bar and also a small betting table and the kitchens. The whole place looks cramped in terms of how many people they cram in there but quite spacious and airy because of the way the place is decorated. Of course all along one wall are large windows giving you a perfect view of the greyhound track.

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Fast Food:

There is a smart looking fast food place on the bottom floor of the stadium but I didn't really get to inspect as we were up on the third floor. It basically just looked like it sold burgers and fries so the sort of thing you would get at a football stadium.

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The Track:

The actual track is like a huge stretched circle. You can actually go by the track if you are spending the night in that area but we were in the restaurant so we really didn't get to see it. I was impressed that they looked after the track after every single race so that it was safe for the dogs.

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The Dogs:

I thought they must be worth a mention as they were stunning. Chasing after this plastic rabbit you could tell that they were all having fun and they almost looked disappointed when it had stopped. The dogs racing here are obviously looked after very well as I even saw some getting treats after the race and the owners who had their dog win looked positively gleaming.

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Betting:

The way you are able to place bets is pretty much the same format as you get everywhere. You can place any priced bet which here is a minimum of £1 or £2 and you can place as many bets as you like.

The bets which I made were as follows;

Win – Obviously here you place a bet on which dog you want to win the race.
Place – Bet on any dog to come first or second.
Trio – Bet on three dogs to come first, second and third. You can also reverse this so they do not have to finish in order.
Forecast – Pick two dogs to finish in a specific order.

Other bets were things like betting on which dogs were going to win several races and you got quite a lot of money for those if you win although it would be pretty hard to win.

Bets in Perry Barr can be made at the special betting booths around the ground or if you are eating in the restaurant people walk around so you can make your bet at the table and not have to get up every ten minutes.

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Food:

We ate in the restaurant and the food was lovely. They were three course meals with an extremely generous choice of meals available. For the starters the favourites were king prawns with sweet chilli sauce, melon and soup. When they came they were very small but to be honest they tasted delicious.

For a main course you could choose from all the meats so lamb, chicken, beef and pork. Then there was salmon and also a vegetarian choice of an asparagus risotto which I wish i had had as it looked delicious. I had the salmon and this huge salmon fillet came on the top of a very crunchy and succulent salad. To be honest everybody had different meals and they all looked good and everybody said the meats were delicious. With the meals you get separate helpings of vegetables and potatoes and we even asked for more and they bought more out which was really nice of them.

For puddings there was a lumpy bumpy chocolate pudding (how yummy does that sound) and then pear crumble and things like ice-cream and cheese and biscuits on the menu too so a wide range. I had the crumble which was so nice and because I didn't want it with custard I asked for ice-cream and they were quite happy to oblige.

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Drinks:

They have quite a good wine menu and although when it comes to your table it does look a little cheap, let me tell you it tasted gorgeous and we polished off quite a few bottles that we really shouldn't have on the night.

They also do an extensive selection of alcoholic drinks and also soft drinks as each floor of the stadium has a bar. The night was really busy with most of the restaurant being full but we had no problem getting service for drinks which was quite surprising.

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Prices:

Admission is around £5.50 and considering you are there for a full night this is pretty good.

The prices for the actual night are not too bad. We decided to buy a package so we got the three course meal and admission for about £25 a head which was great value. The fast food place looked like it was a bit cheaper as it just does snack food like chips and burgers so you could probably eat there for less than a fiver.

Drinks prices were not too bad, about average really with beer being just under £2 and my archers and lemonade came to £2.20 so not too bad at all.

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Dress Code:

The dress code at the dogs is smart casual and while I was there I saw some people dressed up like they were at Royal Ascot, some dressed up as if they were going to a nightclub and some who looked like they had been on a building site all day so you do get your mix of dress sense. I think my point is just wear what you feel comfortable in as long as it is not a bikini or ball room dress.

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Times:

If you are thinking about going then the races are on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. The doors open at 6.30pm with the first race at 7.20. the final race is at about 10.35 and then the bars close at 11.00.

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Other:

It is worth noting that if there are quite a few of you and you want something special then you can hire out executive boxes but you have to phone up and enquire about them.

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Experience:

From the second we got there we knew we were in for a fun night. The room looked fantastic and the view of eth actual race ground was amazing as the huge window spans the whole room so you cannot fail to see the race. We were situated right at the back on the highest floor and we could still see everything perfectly with nobody sitting down having any restrictions at all. There is space between tables so people simply got stood up and walked closer to the window if they needed to see more.

I am not a gambler but betting just £1 each time was lots of fun and even though I only actually won about 20p when I did win it was still a good feeling. I came out from the night £10 down but I had had such a great night that I really didn't care.

I think the fact that they bring your food to the table and also that before every race people come round and ask you if you want to bet and then also come round after to give you winnings is great. It really is a fantastic night with minimal effort and with the whole stadium being spotless you really do have nothing to worry about.

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Verdict:

My night was fantastic and I would have never thought in a million years that I would be jumping out of my seat and literally screaming for my dog to win chasing a plastic rabbit but stand and scream I did. Everybody who was there with me had a lot of fun and I think this is all this night is about, having fun. You cannot win millions unless you really have the millions to spare but it is so funny how people go when they win 20p. me included I have to admit as I was so pleased with my 20p although I swiftly lost it again on the next race.

I cannot think of anything to fault the stadium over as it is so clean and everything seems to go smoothly there so there were o problems with our night. The only thing I will say is that the food starters are not fantastic but the rest of the food is great and the menu offers an extensive choice of all three courses so you should find something to take your fancy.

In conclusion I am going to give Perry Barr racing stadium a very good rating as it is a fun night out and I would recommend it to everybody who likes to have a laugh and is not afraid of losing a few pounds (money that is). It is a nice place which is extremely clean and wherever you are you will get a good view of the track so will be able to eagerly watch your dog hopefully crossing the finish line first. Have a good time there!

Thanks for reading.

Xxx"